Brand Management Strategies for John Lewis & Partners

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Brand Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................... 3
LO1. Demonstrate an understanding of how a brand is built and managed over time.....4
LO2. Analyse how brands are organised in portfolios; how brand hierarchies are built
and managed................................................................................................................... 8
LO3. Evaluate how brands are leveraged/extended over time domestically and
internationally................................................................................................................. 10
LO4. Evaluate techniques for measuring and managing brand value over time............13
Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 15
Reference List................................................................................................................ 16
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Introduction
Brand management is an essential process that is associated with effective marketing
of products and services offered by an organisation. Process of perceiving a brand
through impactful planning and analysis in the market is the ideal definition of brand
management. It is mandatory to develop a healthy relationship with the industry market
to achieve proper brand management. Branding of a product or service of an
organisation comprises of the complete description of it relevant to its detailed
specification. The process helps in upholding, maintaining the position of a brand in the
market. The main motto of brand management is to maintain the stature of the brand
and improve it in future to make it much more acceptable to the customers. It is a
marketing strategy utilised by the organisations to market their products and services. In
this study, the essentiality of proper brand management will be discussed with respect
to the branding of products of a particular organisation. Several theories, frameworks,
and models to make it clear to the organisation seeking advice for perfect brand
management will support the discussion.
The organisation chosen for this study is John Lewis & Partners, which is a series of
high-end retail stores functioning successfully in UK. In 1864, John Lewis found the
organisation with its headquarters at London (John Lewis & Partners. 2019).
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LO1. Demonstrate an understanding of how a brand is built and managed over
time
P1.Explain the importance of branding as a marketing tool and why and how it
has emerged in business practice
In order to assess the importance of branding of a product, the first that should be
kept in mind is that it helps in gaining corporate identity in the market of the respective
industry. The organisation chosen for this study is John Lewis & Partners who is trying
to strengthen their branding processes for increasing their market share in the industry.
The organisation is one of the leading companies in the retail industry, which already
has a high brand value but seeking help from the consultant to strengthen their branding
to strive against the high competition in the market. For proper recognition of a product,
branding is essential. It influences the customers to avail the products by getting
attracted towards it. Proper branding creates this attraction.
Branding enables the clients and customers to know about the product details and
decide how it will be useful to cater to their demands or requirements. It creates an
impression about the organisation, which is very much relevant to its market position.
Positive impact will increase the sales of the organisation and incur profitability.
Moreover, negative branding is harmful for the organisation. In the process of branding,
many fields should be dealt with namely promotion of the product through proper
advertising, kind of customer service provided, attractive logo, and merchandise.
Figure 1: Importance of Branding
(Source: Graham and Mudambi, 2016)
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Branding serves as an essential marketing tool for every kind of organization as it
enhances the value of the product, motivates the employees working for the
organisation, and helps in acquiring attention of new customers along with the existing
ones. It helps in differentiating a product of an organisation from other such products
already available in the market. It helps in gaining competitive advantage. In this
advanced marketing scenario, branding has become very much significant for striving in
the industry. Branding can be better implemented through the implementation of various
available concepts, theories, and models. Application of such theories and models will
enhance the affectivity of the branding processes. The importance of branding can be
listed as follows:
 It helps in creating customer preference for the product offered by the
organisation
 It increases the market share and generates high revenue
 Helps the organisation to face challenging situations
 It helps the organisation to expand their business
 It enhances the productivity of the employees
 It helps in sustaining the increasing competition in the market
 Enhances the profitability of the organisation
 Attracts fresh customers towards the organisation and make them loyal towards
it (John and Park, 2016)
 It helps in minimising employee turnover
 Helps in creating a inimitable brand logo or image
 It also helps in attracting investors
One such effective theory of branding is the 3-Stage Theory of Branding. In this
theory three stages of branding has been mentioned that helps in effective brand
management. The three stages are:
Design: Proper identification of the product through unique brand logo, title or colour is
a part of designing stage. It helps in differentiating the product from other such products
available in the market. The customers prefer to use quality and branded products as
the consciousness of natural and healthy products have increased. The brand value
matters in this case.
Value Proposition: This stage of branding includes the illustration of the details and
specifications regarding the product. It helps in describing the utility of the product or
service that the organisation wants to offer to the customers. It helps in adding value to
the consumers of the product.
Positioning statement: It is the final stage of the branding theory. It specifies the
positioning of the product in the preference list of the customers and the market position
of the product of the organisation.
Apart from this theory, branding can be improved with the application Keller’s Brand
Equity Model that helps in strengthening the brand. The model comprises of four levels
that will help to create a strong brand (Cho et al., 2015). The four levels are as follows:
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 Identity- In this level, the root of brand and its subject is found out. The right
message about the brand is conducted to the customers. For an organisation
like John Lewis & Partners, they will focus on quality of their products and not
on the cost of it, as it is well known for its superior quality apparels and other
accessories.
 Meaning- After proper identification of the product, the next level is about
extracting the meaning of the brand. The meaning of the brand will help making
the customers loyal towards the organisation. The meaning is created not only
through quality and through price of the product but by the dedication level of
the organisation towards their customer needs and other social matters.
 Response- After sale of the proposed product, the customer reaction and
response is also valuable for the branding of the product. These responses
provide opportunities for the organisation to improvise their products and
enhance their brand position.
 Relationship- The relationship level is the most vital level that illustrates the
concept of resonance. Not all the organisations manage to reach to this level.
Very few organisations like John Lewis & Partners have the potential to attain
that level of brand management.
Figure 2: Various levels of Keller’s Brand Equity Model
(Source: Çifci et al., 2016)
P2.Analyse the key components of a successful brand strategy for building and
managing brand equity.
Brand equity is very essential for effective brand management. The brand equity can
be achieved through successful brand strategy. Some of the major components of
effective brand strategy for creating and managing the brand equity are listed as
follows:
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Brand loyalty: It is the component that analysis the close competition and ultimately
identifies the trust value of the organisation within the customers. The faith and
confidence of the consumers are reflected in the form of brand loyalty. It clarifies the
fact that the customers would stick to the same brand, remain loyal to it, and avoid
shifting to other organisations.
Brand Quality: Maintenance of brand quality consistently is another component
influencing brand equity. Brand with quality products increases the acceptance level of
the products and services within the customers. The price or costing of the product can
be compromised but the quality of the product has to be the best. John Lewis &
Partners maintains the quality of their products and as a result, the product prices are
high. Its brand value is based on its quality.
Brand Awareness: Every organisation should focus on creating awareness about their
brand in the customers. The clients and customers should have a clear conception
about the whereabouts of the organisation and the reason behind bringing in such a
product. It enhances the commitment of the customers towards the organisation.
Brand Alliance: The customers should be aware of the brand association. It can be
explained in this way, that John Lewis & Partners is associated with lavish life style
and hence the brand deals with expensive products. This makes it easy for the
customers to get an idea about the price range of the products and services offered by
the organisation.
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LO2. Analyse how brands are organised in portfolios; how brand hierarchies are
built and managed.
P3.Analyse different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and
brand equity management.
Every organisation should posses a unique brand portfolio. The brand portfolio is an
accumulation of all the brand lines offered by an organisation. It helps the customers to
know about the about the brands dealt by the organisation. There are several strategies
for managing the brand portfolio. Some of them are:
o The branding should start in accordance with the customer demands- the
organisation should be aware of the demands of the customers from their
products. For John Lewis & Partners, they should manufacture garments and
other accessories with premium quality materials, as the customers demand so
from them.
o The requirements of the consumers should be properly analysed- Customer
satisfaction level is the key aspect of achieving profits in the future. The brand
portfolio can be better managed through this consideration (Shah et al., 2017)
o Brand reality should be properly balanced with economic opportunity
o Brand positioning in context to the analysis of needs
o Opting sturdy choices
o An agreement should be formulated for managing the portfolio
o A track should be kept about the progress (Shah, 2015)
Brand hierarchy or brand architecture can be defined as the process of emphasising
the various brand strategies on the preference basis and developing them. An essential
process helps in effective brand management is brand hierarchy (Keller and Brexendorf,
2016). When a perfect brand hierarchy is maintained within the organisation, it helps in
increasing their sales. It is very effective for high-end departmental stores like John
Lewis & Partners who deals with several products and brands. The necessity of
maintaining brand architecture within the organisation is to resolve the confusion of
the customers regarding the several brands, promote the new brands in the market,
minimise the problem of overshadowing the initial brands with the rise of new
brands, and to cut down the problems initiated by disorganised brands within the
organisation (Keller, 2017). Various strategies for building proper brand hierarchy are:
 The offered products through the brands should be made clear
 The hierarchy should be set in accordance with the attraction level of the brand
 The system of up sells and cross sells can be implemented
 It should enable the organisation to maintain synergy
 The formulated brand architecture should leverage on the aspect of business
expansion (Brexendorf and Keller, 2017)
Brand equity is maintained by an organisation to strengthen their brand position in the
market of the industry to which it belongs. Through brand equity, an organisation gets
the opportunity to increase its sales and gain profitability (Keller and Brexendorf, 2017).
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Several strategies can help an organisation to maintain its brand equity management.
Some of them are listed below:
 The management team of the organisation should focus on creation of a strong
branding strategy as effective branding helps in better identification of the
product among the several other products available in the market (Amin et al.,
2017)
 Proper communication should be maintained for impactful branding, as it is
impossible to attain brand equity without strong communication. Multi-cultural
marketing is very popular in the present scenario and hence communication
should be properly maintained
 Significant awareness should be created about the brand image, as it would
provide competitive advantage to the organisation. It can be done through
effective promotion of the brand with the help of advertisements both online and
offline
 The reputation of the organisation should be strictly maintained for managing
brand equity as it would help in sustaining the market position of the organisation
 The decisions taken by the governing body should be ethical and legal
 Collaboration can be incorporated in business operation
 New customers should be attracted and existing customers should be retained in
order to maintain the value of the brand
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LO3. Evaluate how brands are leveraged/extended over time domestically and
internationally.
P4.Evaluate how brands are managed collaboratively and in partnership both at a
domestic and global level.
Brand stretching or expanding is defined as a corporate strategy, which helps in
increasing the sales as well as the profit margin of the business sector. Brand image is
a vital aspect of this context of brand extension. A well-developed brand image effects
on the global extension of business and at a domestic level, the development is
sustained in the market by gaining loyalty from its potential customers. There are
innumerable advantages and intentions behind brand extension over time both in the
cases of domestically as well as internationally. Globalisation is one of the most
important aspects to consider here as one advantage of this.
Moreover, the market values of the products and services provided by the concerned
brand are increased at a certain level due to collaboration and partnership along with
the gradual increase of revenue percentage (Bravo et al., 2018). However, the concepts
of brand extension are aligned with the case study on a company namely John Lewis
& Partners based in the market of the UK. The chosen business is a fashion branding
the retailer industry of the UK market. The evaluation of the procedures about how
brands can be extended over time in a domestic or international scale is stated as
follows-
Promotion of Products and Services:
Promotion of a particular business sector has a direct purpose of meeting its potential
customers. In the basic objectives of promotion, the increase in sales amount by
satisfying the consumer as per their needs is also included. The business is given an
opportunity to flourish both at domestic and multinational level through its brand
promotion. The sustainable growth of brands depends upon some definite facts like
customer’s culture, business environment, and most importantly promotional methods.
In modern days, the promotion of a particular brand is done with the help of emerging
technologies like the internet, social media, television, e-mail, and many other forms.
John Lewis& Partners uses Instagram as a social media in order to serve its
promotional purposes, where customers can follow its partners on distinct pages along
with the product reviews and comments. Moreover, the company profile as well as the
details of each individual helps the followers to find his or her requirements regarding a
particular service. Moreover, John Lewis& Partners also provides its every consumer
an e-mail account to sign out and create his or her own profile in their official website,
from where he or she can get all details about a particular product of their choice. In
addition, the seasonal and limited period the company through this e-mailing system
also notifies offers for a customer. For example, for their promotion of seasonal
products during Easter, they provide a flat twenty percent discount on selected
categories to their potential customers. This can also be considered as one of their
corporate strategies via customer retention. Accordingly, if once the customer loyalty is
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earned, it becomes easier for the company to extend its brand values both at domestic
and international level (Critchlow et al., 2019).
Investment:
Extension of brands can be boosted up to a moderate range by investment. Investment
is a supportive procedure through which a business can be funded or aided financially.
A number of modes and methods can do the investment. Both government and private
investors can provide the sources of financial investment. Both of them can be broadly
categorised further as and under Foreign Direct Investors (FDI), which is defined as a
platform for the investment of one or more than one inventors. These investment
procedures, especially foreign direct investment helps in the expansion of brand values
at an international level (Francois et al., 2018). However, at domestic levels, the
investment activities are focused mainly under governmental policies especially sourced
from banking sectors.
In the twenty-first century, investment is being made annually in each of the groups of
John Lewis& Partners. One of the major investments that have been made in this
century on behalf of the company is the renovation of Peter Jones at a cost amount of
around £ 107 million, and that was completed in the year 2004. Moreover, they also
managed to involve investors for the refurbishment of its largest outlet located at
Oxford Street at the cost of around £ 60 million in the year 2007. These two examples
of investment are considered as their remarkably successful investments towards
building a brand image, which they are currently using for the expansion of brands at a
global level (www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk, 2019).
Collaboration or Joint Venture:
The joint ventures a collaborative and strategic business approach or moves performed
by two or more business in order to meet a specific and common set of project targets.
Moreover, by means of a joint venture (JV), both of the business parties are profited
according to their investment or other forms of contribution (Yan and Luo, 2016).
John Lewis& Partners has planned to go for its third joint venturing with Waitrose in
October 2012. Waitrose is a well-reputed fashion retailer brand in the UK. Now, with
this collaboration, both of these two shops represent an amount of nearly£ 11m for
investment purposes. This joint venturing helped both of the brands to split total 175
jobs among both. The collaboration has clearly boosted customer loyalty upon the
brands that was earned individually by both of these two previously. Moreover, the
online exposures in stores for John Lewis& Partners gave it a window of opportunities
in terms of performing joint venture or collaborative activities more frequently.
Licensing:
Licensing is an agreement of authentication for a business to run smoothly signed and
provided by the local government or non-governmental organisation or any other private
firms. Licensing gives an exposure or scope for a business to flourish under relaxation
from the taxation and legislation systems. A business requires to be licensed in order to
serve several branding benefits. Moreover, it gives a competitive advantage over other
rival groups in a particular industry, especially where the consumers are equipped to
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switch brands freely due to a huge availability of resources like raw materials or labour
(Teece, 2018).
In the market of UK, there exists a larger context of retailer brands having fashionable
products and services. Hence, clearly the larger size of the industry denotes a
competitive rivalry. In this context, the licensing of John Lewis& Partners takes into
account. The company has taken some licensing steps in order to grab the market of
potential customers. Linked with the joint venturing, Waitrose and John Lewis&
Partners both are licensed to use each of their services to cope up with the external
challenges from outside.
Finally, it can be concluded that, by following the mentioned ways, John Lewis &
Partners has developed a practice of brand stretching at domestic levels. It can use
these strategies in order to expand business at international level by time as well by
earning fame and positive feedbacks from its potential global customers (Salaman and
Storey, 2016).
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